anyone have experience with mayhaws?

10 years ago

Hi everyone --

I have two grafted mayhaws I put in the ground five years ago, a Reliance and a Big Red. Both these trees bloom profusely, but drop the buds/fruit shortly after. I thought that this would finally be the year, but, sure enough, the ground is littered with tiny fruits.

These are healthy trees, and have a nice spread to the branches, with thick trunks. They are in a good location in a lower area of my orchard, and the ground stays pretty damp for most of the year.

One thing I've noticed is a lack of interest from pollinators. Once in a while I'll see a honeybee bounce from flower to flower, but for the most part, these trees are ignored as far as I can tell. The honeybees love my citrus trees, and nearby are some willows, and the honeybees absolutely devour the catkins.

The nursery I bought them from said that it can take "three to four years" for them to set a significant crop. But I haven't gotten ANYTHING at all. I see pictures on the web of tiny little trees with at least a couple dozen fruit on them. Last year there were a couple of fruits on them, with obvious quince rust. This year I sprayed with fungicide three times, separated by ten days each application.

Any ideas?

-Bruce

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Comments (3)

lucky_p
10 years ago
Bruce,
I've got some that I probably grafted around 2001 or so - but I've long since forgotten when it was. Have or had Big Red, Texas Star, Royalty, Duck Lake, and another one; have long since lost IDs on 'em. I don't recall how long it took for them to come into bearing, or if they dropped blossoms/fruit early in their careers - but all were tiny little scions - not much larger than the lead in a #2 pencil. I rarely have time, during bloom periods, to take notice of what pollenators are working flowers on any of my fruit trees.

They're sited in a boggy spot along & below the driveway - mainly fill an ornamental niche, but I have gotten good crops of fruit from them - some years. Many years, cedar(juniper)-hawthorn rust takes all the fruits long before they ripen, but some years, when all the stars align, I get enough to make a big batch of mayhaw jelly.

Kentucky is not noted for mayhaw production, but my biggest issue has not been winter or spring frosts, but the prevalence of eastern redcedar and strains of rust fungus which infect members of the hawthorn family.
cousinfloyd
10 years ago
Rust is my problem, too. I'm about ready to cut them down. I get plenty of fruit set, but most of it succumbs to rust before it ripens, and the rust problem seems to be getting worse. The whole reason I got mayhaws in the first place was because I figured a species that grew here wild/native would be a trouble-free tree, even if the fruit wasn't the most desirable, but I have more hope now in a good crop from no-spray, regular apples than I do mayhaws.
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bcfromfl
Original Author
10 years ago
From what I've read, mayhaws respond well to fungicide treatment for rust...you just have to be systematic about it and not forget! I used Immunox this year, although there are others that treat quince/apple rust as well. (Host tree is juniper and red cedar.) First application is when the buds swell, then two more times separated by ten days each successive treatment.

Rust affects the developing fruit, but not fruit set. I am at a loss why they keep dropping buds! Frustrating!

Thanks for your thoughts.

-Bruce